A group of teens threw rocks at the historic building, breaking windows; they also damaged security cameras and threw parts of the Christmas display into the Grand River.

Perhaps the most frustrating, maddening and hurtful thing about this is that it was just mean-spirited, plain and simple.

The people who put up the display volunteer their time. The funds for the display come from businesses sponsoring it and from donations given by those who come to see the show. The support comes from those in Caledonia and beyond who come out to watch the show every year.

The sound and light show has won awards, including The Sachem and Glanbrook Gazette’s Readers’ Choice Award for best tourist attraction. That’s a county-wide (and going into Hamilton) honour.

Vandalism, graffiti, broken windows- these are things we see everywhere in the county- from Caledonia to Dunnville, Selkirk, Hagersville, Jarvis, Cayuga and everywhere in between.

It’s incredibly discouraging to those who are trying to make their town a happier, friendlier place for everyone- youths included- to see their work being ripped down and tossed in the river for cheap sport.

We would like to encourage those who are volunteering their time, efforts and resources to continue to do so.

We would encourage those who have not done so yet to consider becoming a volunteer.

And we would strongly encourage the youths who do engage in this kind of behaviour to stop a moment and consider: events you enjoy attending, like Canada Day celebrations, the fairs, etc. won’t be around much longer if you keep cutting the heart out of the volunteers who work so hard to put them on year after year.